NASA finds sure signs of water currently flowing on Mars

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The red planet has finally given up one of its best kept secrets: there is active water flow on Mars.

Last week NASA announced they would be holding a press conference about a “major science finding” that lead to a slew of speculation – from life on the planet to a tie-in to Matt Damon’s “The Martian.” The reality though, is all the more striking.

The publication National GeoScience announced the findings ahead of the press conference Monday morning. Scientists have found what they call “recurring slop lineae,” which appear as dark streaks that appear to flow downward from craters and other areas of height during certain times of the Martian year. “For four years they have not been able to explain the waxing and waning of these streaks, these observations have narrowed the constraints, but there has been no evidence of water until now,” Michael Meyer, lead scientist for the Mars Exploration Program at NASA Headquarters, spoke at the press conference.

NASA and other planetary scientists have been studying these RSL for years, it took them awhile to actually confirm the presence of liquid on the surface. See, they were getting their data from the CRISM on board the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which was only sampling data at 3pm every day. By then, the water had evaporated and no physical trace was left to be found. It did, however, leave behind some chemical deposits, which tipped the team off.

Those slopes are salt deposits that, as Lujendra Ojha from Georgia Tech confirmed, are hydrated. Ojha specializes in spectroscopy, the study between matter and electromagnetic radiation. By observing the variations on the spectrograph provided by data from the CRISM, Ojha was able to find that the sale deposits of magnesium perchlorate, magnesium chlorate, and sodium perchlorate contained water molecules, thus pointing to evidence of an active water flow on the planet’s surface.

How that water gets there is still up for debate. Mary Beth Wilhelm of the NASA Ames Research Center proposed the strongest theory is that the salt deposits are grabbing the moisture from the humidity in the air. There could still be unknown sources, like underground lakes or even ice hidden deep below, that is slowly melting and seeping out. Wilhelm confirmed their favored theory is one of moisture in the atmosphere, but stressed that more analysis, and active research, was needed to determine the origin of the water.

But does that mean there is life on Mars? The team at the press conference answered the most pointed question by saying with water present, there is always a possibility. The key is getting more time on the red planet and further exploration to determine if there was once life, or is some sort of life now, on Mars. But the team was adamant that what humans know about life being tied to water, the possibility for life on Mars is there.